A luxury home sitting on the first hole of the famed golf course, which is host to this weekend’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, has hit the market.

“It’s very rare in here. It’s just a few homes a year that are even on the market on the course,” Sindy Ready, the president of Arizona Realtors, told the local network, AZ Family.

The $3,995,000 home, on the TPC Stadium Golf Course in Scottsdale, AZ, is described as a “state-of-the-art” smart home, according to the Realtor.com® listing. It was originally built in 1996 and then rebuilt over the past three years.

The three-bedroom, three-bath home features a chef’s kitchen with Calacatta gold quartz countertops, and a hidden steel vault door leads to a state-of-the-art safe room with 14-gauge steel panels.

The backyard features Michelangelo porcelain pavers, a saltwater pebble sheen Bella Blue Pool, and LED multicolored lighting. The two-car garage is climate-controlled and equipped with an epoxy floor, a high-lift insulated garage door, and a Versa Lift storage platform.

What makes the home rare and valuable is its location.

“A golf course property is going to add anywhere from $250,000 up to $400,000 to $500,000 depending on the view,” says Ready.

“You can get a great deal. You just have to be farther out, so Buckeye on the west side of town, Sun City and Surprise. And then over to San Tan on the east side of town.”

By the numbers

The single-family home is 2,842 square feet on a 7,120-square-foot lot. The HOA fees are $182 a month.

It’s not the first time this home has had a “For Sale” sign. Realtor.com shows the long history of transactions:

• July 1996: Newly built and sold for $386,000
• Dec. 20, 2020: Sold for $849,000
• Oct. 1, 2024: Listed for $4.4 million
• Jan. 11, 2025: Listing removed after 102 days
• Jan. 24: Listed for $3,999,999
• Jan. 25: Listing removed after 1 day
• Feb. 1: Listed for $3,995,000

Maybe timing is everything, as all eyes will be on the TPC Stadium Golf Course for the Waste Management Phoenix Open, with the final round taking place on Feb. 9.

Dubbed as golf’s biggest party, the action has been going on all week. Since the home sits on the first hole, there’s guaranteed to be a gallery of spectators walking by while looking to catch a glimpse of popular pros like Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, and Rickie Fowler.

Sales of previously owned homes slowed down in January amid higher mortgage rates, setting a disappointing tone for the start of the new year.

Existing-home sales dropped 4.9% last month from December, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.08 million, the National Association of Realtors® reported Friday. However, the January sales figure was up 2% from the same month a year earlier.

Home prices continued to rise on an annual basis, with the median sales price for all existing housing types at $396,900 in January, up 4.8% from one year ago.

This sales price figure is somewhat different from median home listing prices, which have recently declined on an annual basis, says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale.

“Recent sales growth has been more robust among higher price points, whereas data show that among listings lower-priced tiers have seen stronger gains, driving some of the divergence in the two price measures,” she says.

Mortgage rates have hovered in a tight range close to 7% so far this year, averaging 6.96% in January compared with 6.72% in December, according to Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates have refused to budge for several months despite multiple rounds of short-term interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “When combined with elevated home prices, housing affordability remains a major challenge.”

Sales of previously owned homes account for the vast majority of all home sales. Existing-home sales are recorded when the transaction is completed and include single-family homes, condos, co-ops, and townhouses.

Supply of homes for sale rises as spring approaches

The supply of previously owned homes for sale rose last month, sending a potentially friendly signal to buyers as the spring selling season approaches.

Total housing inventory for sale was 1.18 million units at the end of January, up 3.5% from December and 16.8% higher than one year ago.

Unsold inventory sits at a 3.5-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.2 months in December and 3.0 months a year earlier.

“More housing supply allows strongly qualified buyers to enter the market,” Yun says. “But for many consumers, both increased inventory and lower mortgage rates are necessary for them to purchase a different home or become first-time homeowners.”

Sales remain flat in Midwest, fall elsewhere

In January, existing home sales were unchanged from December at an annual rate of 1 million, up 5.3% from the previous year. The median home price in the Midwest was $290,400, up 7.2% from January 2024.

Sales fell in the other regions on a monthly basis, led by the West, where they slumped 7.4% in January to an annual rate of 750,000, up 1.4% from a year ago. The median price in the West was $614,200, up 7.4% from January 2024.

In the South, sales fell 6.2% from December to an annual rate of 1.83 million in January, identical to one year earlier. The median price in the South was $356,300, up 3.5% from last year.

In the Northeast, existing-home sales dropped 5.7% from December to 500,000 annualized, up 4.2% from January 2024. The median price in the Northeast was $475,400, up 9.5% from one year earlier.

Florida condominium owners are begging for relief after a new building safety law passed in the aftermath of the deadly Surfside collapse burdened them with staggering fees—and one lawmaker is warning that it could trigger the “next wave of homeless people.”

The issue of condo safety has become a lightning rod in Florida since Senate Bill 4D was passed in 2022. Now, lawmakers, Gov. Ron DeSantis, and homeowners are struggling to find a middle ground between two seemingly conflicting goals: ensuring that older properties have sufficient funds to carry out critical repairs, and not bleeding homeowners dry by forcing them to fund those repairs.

Rep. Mike Caruso, a DeSantis ally, has been ringing the alarm about the potentially disastrous impact of the strict new condo safety measures, especially on older owners living on fixed incomes.

If not amended, the law could trigger the “next wave of homeless people,” he said.

This hot-button issue was once again highlighted last week, when a segment of state lawmakers who support the controversial law refused to put it on the agenda of a special legislative session in defiance of the governor.

Caruso said he was shocked by this move and predicted that retired condo owners will soon face foreclosures because they “could no longer afford the triple reserves or the quadrupled dues,” according to the Miami Herald.

“It’s sad, and we’re not going to address it here in the Florida House. I’m shocked by it,” he added, according to the publication.

The divisive law was adopted in response to the partial destruction of the Champlain Towers South condo in the upscale Miami suburb of Surfside, FL, in June 2021, which killed 98 people.

While the bill aimed to make older condo complexes safer to prevent another tragedy like the one that happened in Surfside, critics of the measure have expressed concerns that the tangle of new safety requirements and increased financial demands could bankrupt homeowners and condo associations alike.

What Floridians are saying about the law

Charles Burkett, the mayor of Surfside, suggested to Realtor.com® in an email that lawmakers jammed through the condo safety bill before federal investigators had a chance to find the official cause of the collapse—a process that is still ongoing nearly four years later.

“The tragedy is that many very, very expensive solutions have been put forward for a problem that may or may not exist,” Burkett said. “The result is our condo owners are suffering badly from it and in many cases, losing their homes.” 

The condo crisis triggered by the rising fees could hit seniors living on a fixed income particularly hard.

George Prybys, an 84-year-old retiree from St. Petersburg, FL, told ABC Action News that his HOA fees “ridiculously” have jumped from $400 to $900. 

On top of that, the octogenarian, who is living off his Social Security and savings, was slapped with a $12,000 assessment to replace or fix all the balconies in his condo building.

“I told them I retired on the SKI plan. S-K-I, which is ‘spend the kid’s inheritance,’” he joked.

Law boosts safety for older condos

The legislation requires condo associations with properties that are three stories or higher and over 30 years old to undergo what is known as “milestone inspections,” have sufficient reserves in their budget to carry out major repairs and maintenance, and conduct a survey of reserves every 10 years.

About 90% of Florida’s 1.6 million condominiums are more than 30 years old, reported the Associated Press.

Condo associations had until Dec. 31 to complete a Structural Integrity Reserve Study, or SIRS, detailing the condition of each building and anticipated repair costs.

Condo owners will be required to make monthly contributions to their associations’ reserve funds to support long-term repairs and renovations. Unlike in the past, condo boards can no longer vote to waive funding reserves.

The growing financial burden associated with the new law, exacerbated further by mounting home insurance premiums and skyrocketing HOA fees in Florida, has left many condo owners fearful of losing their homes and sent others rushing to sell their properties, even at a loss.

Still, other homeowners have found themselves unable to offload their properties, because they cannot find buyers willing to take on the burden of the stupefyingly high HOA fees.

GOP lawmakers clash over condo safety law

Some Republican lawmakers share homeowners’ concerns, and even DeSantis, who signed Senate Bill 4D into law in May 2022, has called on the state legislature in Tallahassee to reform it.

But supporters of the bolstered condo safety measures have remained defiant. Last week, they refused to include a discussion of the law during a special legislative session, reported Miami Herald.

House Speaker Daniel Perez, who co-sponsored the bill, said in a speech that the legislation was too complex to take up during a special session—even though that is exactly how it was originally passed.

“The tragedy of the collapse in Surfside is a painful reminder of what happens when we don’t get the law right,” said Perez. “And the truth is, I dislike special sessions because they inhibit the very thing the legislative process should encourage: the push and pull of meaningful conversations that lead to the development of good and better ideas.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis pushes for condo law reform

Since affixing his signature to the bill less than a year after the Surfside disaster, DeSantis has come out in support of amending the legislation.

“We’re now seeing some problems that I think were unintended that have popped up, and we have a responsibility to act to make sure that people can stay in their condo units,” he said earlier this month, according to Florida Politics. “The Legislature should not be doing anything that’s going to cause someone to have to flee because of an artificial mandate.”

In calling on the Legislature to take up the condo costs issue during the special session, DeSantis suggested that a single law could not be relied upon to fix all the problems that have been plaguing Florida’s condos for years. 

The housing market took a dramatic shift to round out 2024 as pending home sales decreased to 5.5% in December.

The drop was significant after four straight months of increases, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

“Buyers pulled back in response to climbing mortgage rates. Contract signings fell 5% year over year, the biggest annual dip since July,” says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones.

Pending homes sales, or contract signings, measure the first formal step in a home sale transaction—the point when a buyer and seller have agreed on the price and terms.

Pending homes sales declined in all four regions in the U.S. compared with a month ago.

The West experienced the most significant drop month over month.

Meanwhile, year over year, pending home sales were also down in all four regions—the Midwest saw the biggest contract signing drop.

As Jones mentioned earlier, mortgage rates play a role as rates are still hovering close to 7%—at 6.95%.

Deal breaker

The West’s pending homes sales index (PHSI) saw a 10.3% plunge from the prior month, to 57.7. It’s significant when you compare that number with December 2023, when it was down 5.1%.

The Northeast PHSI dropped to 52.2 in December 2024, an 8.1% change compared with November, but it’s down 1.3% from December 2023.

The South PHSI declined 2.7% to 90.6 in December and down 5.1% from a year ago.

The biggest yearly change occurred in the Midwest, where it was down 6.9% compared with December 2023. Month over month, the Midwest shrank 4.9% to 74.3 in December 2024.

“Pending home sales tend to lead existing-home sales by roughly one to two months and are a good indicator of market conditions,” explains Jones.

“The new administration has introduced some uncertainty to the housing market as buyers and sellers evaluate the possible impacts of President Trump’s housing policies on mortgage rates and home prices. However, the seasonal easing of home prices, high inventory, and relatively stable, though high, mortgage rates have contributed to steady market activity.”

Meanwhile, new-home sales, which are also based on contract signings, climbed 3.6% monthly and 6.7% annually in December, with more affordable inventory driving sales.

“Though mortgage rates continue to be a challenge, affordable new construction remains an attractive option for home shoppers,” adds Jones.

Big cities are in the spotlight this week, and that’s due to their affordability.

The Winter 2025 Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Housing Market Ranking released this week has pinpointed St. Louis as the top luxury housing market in the U.S. for the third straight quarter while Detroit comes in at No. 2. These metros topped the list due to a lack of housing supply, which keeps competition elevated.

In the overall housing market ranking, while many of this quarter’s top markets are familiar, including No. 1 Canton, OH, the biggest climber into the top was newcomer Trenton, NJ. 

Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve decided to leave its policy rate unchanged at 4.25% to 4.50%. Chairman Jerome Powell called the current policy “meaningfully restrictive” and noted that the committee did not need to hurry to make policy adjustments. Market investors largely expect the Fed to be in its current holding pattern until June.

When we take into account the big picture on this week’s data, the U.S. economy, domestically, grew in the fourth quarter, but at a slower pace. And while consumers boosted activity, investment was a weak spot.

Consumer confidence also softened in January, although it remained in its recent range.

Mortgage rates steadied, hovering just below 7% this week, but remain more than 80 basis points above their September low.

Some home sales data began to show the effects of higher rates. Pending home sales—an early-stage indicator based on contract signings for existing-home sales—slipped 5.5% in December and were below the year-ago pace. However, new-home sales ticked higher, to 3.6% month over month and 6.7% year over year.

The latest Realtor.com New Construction Insights report showed that in the fourth quarter, the median list price of new homes slipped 0.7% to $449,967, and the price premium for new homes over existing homes shrank, which might help to explain the mixed trends in home sales. 

Perhaps most interestingly, the report showed that while both new- and existing-home sellers will occasionally offer mortgage rate buydowns to buyers, the share of new homes with this incentive is nearly four times as large as the share among existing homes. Put simply, if you’re after a seller-funded mortgage rate buydown, you’re more likely to find it in a newly built home.

Realtor.com January housing data shows an active start to the year for sellers with newly listed homes growing by nearly 11% from a year ago. Some of the increase is likely a residual benefit from fall’s lower mortgage rates that could fade, but drivers such as the need for families to adapt to life changes and the easing of the lock-in effect are also at play and would mean more lasting improvement.

Realtor.com weekly data shows that while seller engagement and softer asking prices were observed throughout the month, the gap in time on the market shrank in each of the past three weeks.

You can find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X for real-time updates and Instagram for graphics.

Sellers are flooding back into the market, with the number of new home listings growing into the double-digit territory, Realtor.com weekly housing data shows. 

This is helping to propel slow and steady growth in the availability of for-sale homes even as the time on the market gap shrank. 

Buyers will not only have more home options, with more of them newly listed, but they are also likely to find somewhat lower asking prices and more time to make decisions—all buyer-friendly factors as we inch closer to the busy homebuying season.

This week, consumer price data in January showed that inflation picked up for a third month. The monthly jump in prices was the highest since August 2023, while annual inflation was at an eight-month high. 

The producer price index—a measure of wholesale prices—similarly ticked higher, and while energy and food prices were important drivers, core inflation also rose. 

One relatively bright spot was shelter inflation, which declined year over year, despite a larger monthly increase. Coupled with low unemployment, this data means that the Fed will be patient as it calibrates policy to hit its full-employment and price stability mandates. In fact, markets have pushed the odds of any additional Fed rate cuts out to the fourth quarter.

Following the hotter inflation data, 10-year yields climbed, but remain below mid-January’s highs. While mortgage rates declined for a fourth week in a row, they are likely to climb next week as markets fully digest inflation data. 

Already, fewer consumers expected additional mortgage rate declines this year, a drag on home purchase sentiment. However, positive signals from consumers reporting more job security and income growth as well as positive attitudes toward buying and selling and expecting home price increases were enough to offset measured mortgage rate concerns and push the home purchase sentiment index up from last month and last year.

The Realtor.com Hottest Housing Markets report shows that while Manchester-NH just outside of Boston continues to top the list of hot markets where demand outpaces supply, Philadelphia has more than a Super Bowl victory to celebrate. The housing market that’s home to the Eagles was the biggest climber among the 40-largest metros in January meaning the market has improved for Philly’s home sellers

Federal Reserve policymakers left the central bank’s key interest rate unchanged at their latest meeting on Wednesday, exercising caution following several rounds of rate cuts.

The decision to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 4.25% to 4.5% was widely expected, and will have little immediate impact on mortgage rates for homebuyers.

As well, the Fed did not issue any updates to its summary of economic projections at this meeting, its first since President Donald Trump took office, offering no insights that could move the markets that ultimately determine mortgage rates.

In remarks at a press conference following the decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the central bank’s patient approach.

Economic indicators signal that “we don’t need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” he said.

His remarks offered no surprises, and the financial markets that dictate mortgage rates were virtually unchanged on the same day Powell’s press conference concluded.

“The ongoing strength of the labor market gives the Fed an opportunity to be patient as it navigates risks on both the employment and inflation sides of its dual mandate,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale.

In his remarks, Powell indicated the Fed is monitoring the impact of higher mortgage rates on the housing market, but sees it as just one factor they are considering as they evaluate the appropriate policy stance going forward.

The Fed sets short-term interest rates, but does not directly control mortgage rates, which tend to move in tandem with the yields on long-term bonds.

Those long-term rates are dependent on investor expectations about the future state of the economy, government deficits, and Fed policy down the road.

For that reason, mortgage rates have risen by nearly a percentage point since the Fed began cutting its policy rate in September, despite the cuts themselves totaling a full point.

Mortgage rates have risen primarily because inflation has failed to soften as quickly as expected, while job growth remained strong, reducing expectations that the Fed will cut as quickly and deeply as initially hoped.

Last week, rates for 30-year fixed home loans averaged 6.96%, according to Freddie Mac. This week’s reading is likely to be slightly lower, following a sell-off of tech stocks on Monday that drove long-term bond yields down.

Mortgage rates, which touched a two-year low of 6.08% in September, have since generally trended upward, topping 7% earlier this month.

In his comments on Wednesday, Powell acknowledged that higher mortgage rates are likely to “hold back housing activities to some extent” if they persist.

Outlook for homebuyers after latest Fed decision

For prospective homebuyers, the Fed’s cautious approach likely means overall stability for mortgage rates as the spring selling season approaches—although that stability may be at a higher level than many borrowers would prefer.

The Fed’s next policy meeting comes in March. Bond markets expect the central bank to stand pat once again, with a 77% chance that the policy rate will remain unchanged in at the next meeting, according to SME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Mortgage rates move marginally on a daily basis in response to new economic data and other news that affects financial markets. However, barring any big surprises, rates could well remain close to their current elevated levels as spring approaches.

For homebuyers, relative stability for mortgage rates would offer a better planning environment, allowing them to determine their price range and move ahead with a purchase without playing a waiting game on rates.

The downside of rates remaining stable at their current elevated level is reduced purchasing power for buyers, at a time when home prices remain stubbornly high.

Instead, homebuyers will have to look for relief in the rising supply of homes on the market, offering more choices.

Last month, the number of active listings in the U.S. was up 22% from a year earlier, at 871,509, the highest level for a December since 2019, according to the Realtor.com monthly housing trends report.

New construction will also play an important role in the spring housing market, after single-family home construction remained strong last month.

“More home building—a factor beyond the Fed’s control and an issue that the Trump administration has called attention to—is not only necessary to address the significant housing shortage that has opened up over the last decade, it would likely accelerate the pace at which shelter inflation normalizes,” says Hale.

“Put simply, building more homes would not only fill an important consumer need, it would help get inflation back on track.”

Annual home price growth accelerated in November for the first time in seven months, showing that prices remain responsive to mortgage rates, which dipped briefly last fall.

Nationwide, home prices grew 3.8% in November from a year earlier, more than the 3.6% gain seen in October, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index data released on Tuesday.

The index’s composite of the 20 largest metro areas posted a year-over-year increase of 4.3%, up from a 4.2% increase the previous month. New York City again reported the highest annual gain among the 20 cities, with a 7.3% increase in November, while Tampa, FL, recorded the lowest return, falling 0.4%.

The modest bump in home price growth followed mortgage relief in September, when average rates briefly dipped to two-year lows close to 6%. Rates have since increased to around 7%.

The stronger growth in November sales prices, which includes September and October on a three-month rolling basis, suggests that the market remains fairly responsive to changes in mortgage rates.

Still, the annual price growth seen in the latest Case-Shiller data remains weaker than pre-pandemic norms, and far below the feverish 20% gains reached during the buying frenzy of 2022.

“With the exception of pockets of above-trend performance, national home prices are trending below
historical averages,” says Brian D. Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“Markets in New York City, Washington, DC, and Chicago are well above norms, with New York leading the way,” he adds. “However, markets out West and in once red-hot Florida are trending well below average growth. Tampa’s decline is the first annual drop for any market in over a year.”

Although the Case-Shiller index is reported with significant lag time, it is one of the most accurate measures of home values in the U.S., using repeat transactions to measure price changes while stripping out appreciation due solely to improvements or higher square footage.

Price growth is slowest in the South and West

While Tampa was the only city tracked by the index that saw an annual price decline, price growth in other markets in the South and West remained sluggish.

Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, and San Francisco all saw home prices grow less than 2% year over year in November.

Meanwhile, New York City, Chicago, and Washington, DC, saw the biggest annual price gains, with home values in those markets growing 7.3%, 6.2%, and 5.9% respectively.

“Regional variation in the housing market means that buyers across the country face vastly different market conditions,” says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones. “Markets in the Midwest and Northeast continued to see substantial demand, resulting in sustained price growth in November, while the South and West continued to soften.”

Returns for the Tampa market and the entire Southern region ranked in the bottom quartile of historical annual gains in data going back to 1988, according to Luke.

“Unsurprisingly, the Northeast was the fastest-growing region, averaging a 6.1% annual gain,” he says.

On a monthly basis, home prices fell slightly in Seattle and Tampa from October to November, after accounting for seasonal adjustments.

Prices rose on a monthly basis in the other 18 markets tracked by the index, led by Boston, where they increased 0.94%.

Sales of previously owned homes rose last month, but not enough to prevent 2024 from being the slowest year for home transactions in nearly 30 years.

Existing-home sales rose 2.2% on the month in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.24 million, the strongest pace since February 2024, the National Association of Realtors® reported on Friday.

Compared with a year earlier, sales rose 9.3%, the largest annual gain in over three years.

“Home sales in the final months of the year showed solid recovery despite elevated mortgage rates,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Home sales during the winter are typically softer than the spring and summer, but momentum is rising with sales climbing year over year for three straight months.”

The median sales price of existing homes continued to rise, climbing 6% from a year earlier, to $404,400 in December. It marked the 18th consecutive month of annual price increases and biggest year-over-year growth since October 2022.

However, for the full year of 2024, home sales hit the lowest level since 1995, declining to 4.06 million from 4.09 million the prior year.

The nearly three-decade sales low is even more remarkable considering that the U.S. population has grown by about 70 million, and added some 40 million jobs, since 1995.

Meanwhile, the median sales price of homes reached a record high of $407,500 across 2024, as sluggish sales and a growing supply of homes on the market failed to drag prices down.

“While the improvement [last month] is something to celebrate, the December data caps a year where home sales did not live up to expectations,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “The strength of the December uptick will be tested in the months ahead, but does open the possibility that the bottom in existing-home sales is truly in the rearview mirror.”

Rising supply boosts sales in December

The uptick in home sales in December came despite elevated mortgage rates, which averaged 6.72% last month, according to Freddie Mac.

“In my view, the most important variable in this real estate cycle appears to be inventory availability,” Yun told journalists on a conference call. “People want to jump into the market. They are liking having more choices. So people are entering due to more inventory availability.”

The total supply of homes for sale at the end of December was 1.15 million units, down 13.5% from November in line with seasonal trends, but up 16.2% from one year ago.

At the current sales pace, there was a 3.3-month supply of homes on the market, down from 3.8 months in November but up from 3.1 months in December 2023.

Housing economists generally view a six-month supply of homes as representing a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Home prices growing slowest in the South

Home prices rose in every region on an annual basis last month, but grew slowest in the South, where mounting inventory is keeping price growth low.

The median sales price in the South was $361,800 in December, up just 3.4% from one year earlier.

Transactions in the South increased 3.2% from November, to an annual rate of 1.93 million last month, up 9% from one year before.

In the Northeast, existing-home sales grew 3.9% from November, to an annual rate of 530,000, up 10.4% from a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $478,900, up 11.8% from last year.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales slid 1% in December, to 990,000 annualized, up 6.5% from the prior year. The median price in the Midwest was $298,600, up 9% from December 2023.

In the West, existing-home sales rose 2.6% in December, to an annual rate of 790,000, up 12.9% from a year ago. The median price in the West was $614,500, up 6% from the prior year.

Sales of newly constructed single-family homes rose last month, and prices ticked higher, defying mortgage rates that stuck close to 7%.

Signed contracts for new homes were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 698,000 in December, up 3.6% from the prior month, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Monday. December’s sales pace was up 6.7% from a year earlier.

The median sales price of new houses sold in December was $427,000, up 6% from November and a 2% gain from a year earlier.

“More affordable new inventory is driving sales, with 20% of December’s sales occurring on homes priced under $300,000, up from 15% last year,” says Realtor.com® Senior Economist Joel Berner. 

At the end of December, there were 494,000 newly built homes on the market on a seasonally adjusted basis, up 10% from a year ago.

It represented a supply of 8.5 months at the current sales rate, down from 8.7 months in November, but higher than the 8.2 months seen in December 2023.

“In the short term, we don’t think the large overhang of new homes for sale will stop builders from starting new projects, but it will likely start putting downward pressure on the median price of a new home,” says Thomas Ryan, North America economist for Capital Economics.

New-home sales are based on signed contracts, and can reflect homes in any stage of construction: not yet started, under construction, or completed and ready for move-in.

New-home market outperforms existing homes in 2024

The uptick in new-home sales follows data showing that sales of previously-owned homes also rose last month, ending 2024 on a bright note after a mostly muted year for the housing market.

Existing-home sales, which are based on closings, rose 2.2% on the month in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.24 million, the strongest pace since February 2024, the National Association of Realtors® reported on Friday.

Despite the year-end boost, 2024 was still the slowest year for existing-home sales since 1995—a remarkable feat, considering that the U.S. has some 70 million more people now than it did 30 years ago.

New-home sales performed better across 2024, with an estimated 683,000 new homes sold last year, up 2.5% from 2023.

Regionally, new home sales were strongest in the Midwest across 2024, up 19% in from the prior year. Sales also rose 1.7% in the Northeast and 2.6% in the West, in the South they dipped 0.2%.

“There are two main reasons the new home market was stronger in 2024,” says Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant.

“First, in many markets, there was simply more new home inventory and some buyers who might have wanted to purchase an existing home were instead looking at new construction. Second, home builders were able to offer prospective buyers concessions, including rate buydowns, to entice them to new home communities,” she explains.

The supply of new homes has consistently outpaced that of existing homes in recent years, as construction activity has increased, and fewer homeowners put their houses on the market for fear of losing the low mortgage rates they had previously locked in.

Across 2024, the supply of existing homes averaged just 3.7 months, compared with 8.3 months supply for newly built homes.

“The balance between the new and existing home markets could change in 2025,” says Sturtevant. “The available supply of existing homes for sale is increasing as more current homeowners are deciding to sell. And while mortgage rates remain elevated and builders will still promote rate buydowns, those concessions get more difficult as profit margins narrow.”

President Donald Trump said on Friday he was considering “getting rid of FEMA” as he was touring parts of North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene, before jetting off to California to survey the wildfire damage.

“We’re going to recommend that FEMA go away, and we pay directly,” Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, told reporters during a briefing in Asheville, NC. “We pay a percentage to the state. But the state should fix this.

“FEMA has been a very big disappointment. They cost a tremendous amount of money. It’s very bureaucratic, and it’s very slow. Other than that, we’re very happy with them,” he said. 

Donald Trump, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, which struck North Carolina in September 2024, said that he would like to see states assume more responsibility in the aftermath of natural disasters, rather than the federal government.

“I’d like to see the states take care of disasters,” he said. “Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.”

Currently, FEMA steps in to help when state leaders ask for a presidential emergency declaration, according to the Associated Press. The agency covers some of the costs associated with debris cleanup and also provides financial aid to victims.

The next stop on Trump’s two-state trip—his first since taking the oath of office on Monday—was Los Angeles, where thousands of homes were consumed by wildfires that continue to smolder more than two weeks after first igniting. 

The Palisades fire was 77% contained as of Friday, according to Cal Fire. The Eaton fire, which scorched a path of destruction through Altadena, CA, was 95% contained. 

Thousands of emergency crews in the state were also busy fighting a pair of more recent blazes, including the Border 2 fire in San Diego and the Laguna fire in Ventura County. 

Overall, the wildfires have incinerated more than 55,000 acres of land throughout the Golden State and killed at least 28 people.

During the stop, Gov. Gavin Newsom told Trump that “we’re going to need your support, we’re going to need your help.

“You were there for us during COVID, I don’t forget that, and I have all the expectations that we’ll be able to work together to get this speedy recovery,” he added.

Trump in return vowed that “we’re going to get it done.”

“Tremendous numbers of lives have been affected, a lot of real estate has been affected. Nobody’s probably ever seen anything like this, you can almost say since the Second World War, when you think of it. Nothing like this has happened, and we’re going to get it fixed—we’re going to get it permanently fixed, so it can’t happen again,” Trump said.

“We’ll get it worked out,” he added.

Conditions placed on California aid

But before touching down in L.A., Trump told the press that any federal aid to California would come with strings attached aimed at forcing the blue state to change its water policies and adopt voter ID requirements.

“I want two things,” the Republican president said. “I want voter ID for the people of California, and they all want it right now. You have no, you don’t have voter ID. People want to have voter identification. You want to have proof of citizenship. Ideally, you have one-day voting. But I just want voter ID as a start,” Trump told reporters upon landing in North Carolina.

“And I want the water to be released, and they’re going to get a lot of help from the U.S.,” he added.

Trump’s remarks on Friday about his intent to condition the disaster aid to California echoed his previous comments to Sean Hannity during his first televised Oval Office interview, in which the president threatened to withhold financial assistance until the state overhauls its water management system. 

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” he said.

Since the outbreak of the wildfires, Trump has claimed without evidence that California’s fish conservation efforts have resulted in fire hydrants running dry in Los Angeles.  

California officials have insisted that protecting the natural habitat of the delta smelt has had nothing to do with the scarcity of water in Los Angeles County.

Democrats have been outraged by Trump’s rhetoric, accusing the president of trying to score political points and extract concessions from California as the disaster-stricken state is facing a monumental rebuilding project. 

The reconstruction costs associated with just the Palisades and Eaton fires have been estimated by CoreLogic to be around $13.1 billion. 

Homebuyers are slowly finding affordability, but it depends on where they’re looking.

The median listing price for a new-construction home in the U.S. inched down at the end of December, compared to the year before—with the South and West emerging as the best places to buy a freshly built house.  

Last year was a strong one for new construction, with 1,020,600 single-family homes hitting the market, according to housing completions data from the U.S. Census Bureau—up from 998,900 in 2023. 

The average newly built home had a median listing price of $449,967 in December—down 0.7% year over year, according to the latest available data from Realtor.com®. 

And while the price decrease was only marginal, there was more good news for consumers—because the premium on new construction, compared to existing homes, plunged 3.6 percentage points from the same time in 2023.  

Buyers were paying a 13.7% premium for newly constructed homes between October and end of December—the lowest fourth-quarter premium in four years. 

Simply put, a house hunter had to shell out just over $54,000 extra on average to purchase a newly built rather than an existing home with a median listing price of $395,800.

New-construction inventory remains strong

What’s more, the stock of newly constructed homes continued to gain ground at the end of 2024—even as the houses themselves continued to shrink. 

“Newly built homes are becoming smaller and more affordable, as builders work to chip away at the supply gap that has plagued the United States since the Great Recession and get more buyers into new homes,” says Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner.

The share of new-construction listings remained elevated, even as more existing homes were being listed and lingering on the market for longer. 

Based on the most recent data, newly built listings accounted for just over 18% of all the listings on the market in the fourth quarter. 

For comparison, the new-construction share of listings during the same period in 2021 was slightly above 15% and came with a premium of just under 28%. 

In another positive sign, newly built listings have recovered to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels much faster than existing listings and continued to grow in number.

Most buyer-friendly markets for new construction

When it comes to the best place to look for a newly built home in the U.S., the South is the place to be.

Not only does it have the most new construction listings, but it is also the most buyer-friendly market, boasting a higher share of newly built listings (23%) and a lower premium than the national average (8.9%).

The second-best region to buy a newly constructed home is the West, which has the lowest premium at 5.8%. What makes that market slightly less attractive overall than the South is that new builds make up a smaller share of all listings at 14.4% less than the national figure.

Meanwhile, the Northeast and Midwest are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to new builds. At just 9.9%, the Northeast has the lowest share of the market dedicated to newly constructed residential properties than the nation as a whole, with the Midwest not too far behind at 13.5%.

To make matters worse, the Northeast and Midwest have dramatically higher premiums on new construction, at 76.2% and 64.8%, respectively.

“This is due in part to a significant difference in the age of the average home in the existing segment between the two pairs of regions,” Berner explains.

The average existing home listed for sale in the South is just 39 years old and just 40 years old in the West, while the average existing home on the market is 60 years old in the Midwest and 69 in the Northeast.

Mortgage rates remain a hurdle but there is help

Mortgage rates have remained stubbornly high over the past two years, ending 2024 at 6.85% and plunging the housing market into a deep freeze, with buyers struggling to come up with the funds to buy and sellers locked into lower rates from previous years, reluctant to sell.

In a bid to break this impasse, both builders of new-construction homes and sellers of existing homes have turned to offering mortgage rate buydowns. A buydown is a type of discount on a monthly mortgage payment in which a homebuilder or seller pays a sum of cash on behalf of the buyer to the mortgage originator to lower the interest rate on the loan, decreasing the monthly bill.

New builds are much more likely to offer buydowns than existing homes. By the end of last year, 4.6% of new-construction listings came with buydown offers, compared to just 1.2% of existing homes.

Mortgage buydown rates had been rising steadily since 2022, keeping pace with the skyrocketing mortgage rates, but all that changed in the second half of last year, when the buydowns saw a downturn even as the 30-year fixed mortgage rates remained steady.

“With rates surpassing the 7% mark in January 2025, there may be opportunity for more buydowns to be offered in the market to attract prospective buyers,” predicts Berner.

There are some important differences between the types of existing listings and newly built ones offering mortgage buydowns. In the former segment, it tends to be larger and pricier homes. The typical existing home with a buydown option had a median listing price of $467,000, compared to the $390,967 existing listing price of a home without a buydown, which represents a 19.6% gap.

New construction, on the other hand, is more likely to offer buydowns on cheaper homes. The median listing price of a typical newly built house with a buydown is $457,938, compared to $439,953 of one without a buydown.

“Buyers searching for a deal on their monthly payment should look to new construction, where they can find more mortgage-rate buydowns on lower-priced homes,” Berner advises.

The buyer-friendly Western market currently has the highest share of new-construction listings with buydowns, at 6%—followed by the South, with 4.5%, which is in line with the national rate. The Midwest and Northeast have the lowest share of new builds offering mortgage buydowns, at 2.9% and 1.3%, respectively.

Mortgage rates pulled back slightly this week, following new inflation data and signs that President Donald Trump is moderating his position on tariffs.

The average rate on 30-year fixed home loans dipped to 6.96% for the week ending Jan. 23, down from 7.04% the prior week, according to Freddie Mac.

“After crossing the 7%-mark last week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage saw its first decline in six weeks,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “While affordability challenges remain, this is welcome news for potential homebuyers, as reflected in a corresponding uptick in purchase applications.”

The small pullback in rates followed new data last week showing that, while overall annual inflation increased to 2.9% in December, so-called core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, rose at the slowest monthly pace since July.

Because cooler inflation is more likely to lead to lower long-term interest rates, yields on 10-year Treasury bonds dropped modestly late last week. Mortgage rates typically follow 10-year yields.

Also benefiting mortgage rates, Trump refrained from immediately imposing new tariffs on foreign imports after taking office on Monday, instead calling for a review of U.S. trade policy before taking action.

His more measured approach to tariffs sent bond yields down slightly, because investors generally view tariffs as inflationary and likely to lead to Federal Reserve rate hikes.

“Falling mortgage rates are welcome news in a housing market that has been largely stymied by them in recent years,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale.

“Momentum in the market started to build toward the end of 2024, as evidenced by the increase in pending home sales year over year in November, but rates exceeding 7% last week for the first time since May 2024 will surely gum up the gears going forward,” she adds.

Prices are finally falling, but there’s a catch

The Realtor.com economic research team’s weekly housing market update shows that for the week ending Jan. 18, the median list price of homes on the market this week was down 2.2% from the same week last year.

This week was the 35th in a row in which the national median home listing price was either flat or falling on an annual basis, a stretch that dates back to May 25th.

However, the decline appears to be primarily due to the rising share of smaller homes hitting the market, as homebuilders pivot toward smaller, more affordable floorplans.

When the change in the mix of inventory toward smaller homes is accounted for, the median listing price per square foot increased by 1% this week compared with the same time last year.

New listings surge in positive trend for buyers

The number of new listings hitting the market last week surged 17.9% from one year ago despite mortgage rates hitting 7%, possibly signaling that time and life changes driving moves are finally chipping away at the mortgage “lock-in” effect for home sellers.

It marked the highest number of new listings to the market since October, in a positive sign for buyers to kick off the new year.

The past two weeks have brought the most new listings so far this winter, according to the report.

Supply and time on market are rising

The number of homes listed for sale last week was up 25.1% from the same week a year ago, marking the 63rd consecutive week of annual growth in supply.

Meanwhile, the typical home spent four more days on the market before going under contract, compared to a year earlier.

Median days on market increased to 70 last month, the highest level for a December since 2019.

Time on market follows seasonal trends and typically peaks in January due to the lower number of new listings coming on to the market.

President Donald Trump is set to visit the areas around Los Angeles destroyed by wildfires, even as some question whether his signature policies on tariffs and immigration could hamper the rebuilding effort.

The Republican’s visit to deep-blue California in the wake of the disaster sets the stage for possible political tension—but also offers up the chance for bipartisan cooperation on the monumental task of rebuilding.

At least 16,600 properties were inside the perimeters of the massive Eaton and Palisades fires, with a total reconstruction cost of $13.1 billion, according to estimates from CoreLogic.

Total insured losses, including personal property, rental reimbursement, and business interruption, could reach as high as $45 billion, CoreLogic says. At least 28 people were killed in the fires.

Trump, who first gained fame as a real estate mogul, has vowed to help lead the effort to rebuild—a project that could take up to a decade to complete. 

“I’m going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back,” Trump said at a rally ahead of the inauguration. “We’re going to get some of the best builders in the world. We’ll get it moving back.”

Will Trump’s policies help or hurt the rebuilding effort?

Despite Trump’s vow to spur the rebuilding process in Los Angeles, housing industry experts have raised alarm bells that if Trump follows through on his promises of mass deportations and stiff new tariffs, construction costs could skyrocket.

“The tariff and deportation agenda the Trump administration has promised will certainly raise construction costs during a moment of great need for new homes—not only to replace the properties destroyed by these horrible wildfires in Southern California, but in the country at large where underbuilding has plagued for-sale inventory since the Great Recession,” says Realtor.com Senior Economist Joel Berner.

Nearly 10% of building materials used in residential construction are imported, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Industry experts say dimensional lumber from Canada probably accounts for the bulk of those imports, followed by fixtures and finishes from a variety of nations.

“The cost of tariffs on construction materials will be passed along to builders and eventually to homeowners and buyers, driving up the price of rebuilding in Southern California and new construction nationwide,” says Berner.

So far, Trump has not imposed new tariffs on imports, instead requesting that key agencies conduct a 90-day review of U.S. trade policies.

Meanwhile, mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants—another Trump campaign promise, could raise labor costs in the construction industry, which is especially reliant on undocumented workers. 

“Mass deportation will remove a significant portion of the construction labor force, causing builders to play catchup when it comes to training new employees and resulting in increased labor costs which will again be passed onto American households,” says Berner.

“The best thing for the Trump administration to do in support of residential construction is to drop tariffs and deportation from the agenda,” he adds. 

Berner also called on Trump to coordinate with state and local governments to ensure speedy delivery of new homes, incentivizing them to remove regulatory red tape where necessary.  

“Beyond that, holding insurance companies accountable for paying out the appropriate amounts to homeowners on their wildfire claims promptly will promote equity and speed of the rebuilding efforts,” he says.

California Democrats welcome Trump’s visit

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat with his own presidential ambitions, issued a statement welcoming Trump’s visit to the disaster area. 

“We are glad to see president-elect Trump accept the governor’s invitation to come to Los Angeles,” a spokesperson for Newsom said.

“The governor hopes the president-elect meets directly with the Americans affected by these firestorms, sees the devastation firsthand, and joins the governor and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line,” the statement added.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told reporters at a press briefing that she hoped to meet with Trump during his visit, despite the president’s harsh criticism of emergency response efforts that failed to quickly contain the blazes.

“I’ll say, ‘Welcome to Los Angeles,’ and it’s—immediately go into what we’re facing right now, and how we hope to continue the federal partnership, which we already have,” said Bass. “It is my hope that he will be very supportive.” 

During his inaugural address, Trump lashed out at California’s response to the blazes, which spread rapidly due to extreme drought and high wind conditions, claiming the fires were allowed to spread “without even a token of defense.”

“They’re raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country—some of whom are sitting here right now,” said Trump. “They don’t have a home any longer. That’s interesting.”

Fire officials in California have said that the speed of the fires overwhelmed their defenses, with the Palisades Fire growing to 20 acres in less than half an hour, driven by hurricane-strength wind gusts.

Mortgage rates dipped slightly on Thursday for the second straight week, after concerns over Chinese AI newcomer DeepSeek drove a tech stock sell-off that pushed long-term interest rates lower.

The average rate on 30-year fixed home loans dipped to 6.95% for the week ending Jan. 30, down only marginally from 6.96% the prior week, according to Freddie Mac.

“The 30-year fixed-rate has hovered between 6% and 7% for most of the last two and a half years. That trend continued this week, with the average rate remaining essentially flat at 6.95%,” says Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater.

“Driven by these higher rates and a persistent supply shortage, affordability hurdles still exist for many homebuyers and a significant number of them remain on the sidelines,” he adds.

Tech stock turmoil is main driver of mortgage rates this week

The small pullback in rates followed turmoil in the stock market on Monday, when DeepSeek’s AI app raised fears the Chinese company had built the product without massive expenditures on the advanced chips that power competitors such as OpenAI.

In the flight to safety, investors bid up the prices of bonds, driving yields on 10-year Treasury notes down about 10 basis points. Bond prices move inversely to yields, and mortgage rates tend to follow long-term bond yields.

Although the sell-off panic in equities was short-lived, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gaining back much of its losses by midweek, long-term bond yields have failed to bounce back.

Conversely, the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to pause rate cuts had little impact on mortgages, as it was widely expected.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell‘s commentary on the decision also failed to move bond markets one way or the other, making the central bank a bit player in the mortgage rate story this week.

“The Fed’s decision on Wednesday will not put any downward pressure on mortgage rates in the near term, and the new Trump administration’s agenda, which continues to emphasize tariffs as a tool of geopolitical aggression, will almost certainly be inflationary,” says Realtor.com® senior economist Joel Berner.

“Rising inflation will further tie the hands of the Federal Reserve, preventing direct decreases to interest rates, and indirectly will pull mortgage rates up as debt market investors demand greater future returns in response,” he adds.

Home prices continue to soften

The Realtor.com economic research team’s weekly housing market update shows that for the week ending Jan. 25, the median list price of homes on the market was down 0.5% from the same week last year.

It marked the 35th in a row in which the national median home listing price was flat or falling from the corresponding week last year, a stretch that dates to the beginning of June 2024.

However, much of the change appears to be driven by a shift toward smaller floor plans, as the median listing price per square foot increased by 1.3% this week compared with the same time last year.

“For potential homebuyers, this means more affordable (albeit smaller) homes are available on the market this year, and softening price growth means that when mortgage rates do decline below current levels, homes become more affordable relative to last year,” says Realtor.com data scientist Sabrina Speianu.

New listings surge in positive trend for buyers

The number of new listings hitting the market surged 9.3% last week compared with the same period a year ago, offering buyers more options on the market.

The bump in listings could be caused by sellers who began preparing to hit the market when mortgage rates briefly hit a two-year low in September.

Or, it could be a sign that the “lock-in” effect of higher mortgage rates is finally breaking up, as family and career changes push homeowners to list despite higher mortgage rates.

“Nonetheless, it offers buyers a fresh pool of homes to consider, and in some cases, at lower prices than the previous year,” says Speianu.

Supply of homes and time on the market are rising

The total number of homes on the market also jumped last week on an annual basis, rising 26.1% from the same week last year.

Homes are also continuing to stay longer on the market before going under contract, with the median time on the market rising three days last week compared with a year ago.

For 39 consecutive weeks, homes have spent more time on the market than they did last year, although the gap has been decreasing.

“A recent surge in new listings, up double digits in late January, is providing buyers with a larger pool of options, while growing inventory and a narrowing gap in time on market suggest improving buyer demand,” says Speinau.